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WHAT THE STARS SAW 






























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‘Let us go find Him, the King the angels told us about’ 







WHAT THE STARS SAW 


AND OTHER BIBLE STORIES 


By 

CAROLINE KELLOGG 

n 


WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

HAROLD SPEAKMAN 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


Copyright 1916 
The Bobbs-Merrill Company 


BT 'hOH 
. If£5 



NOV -I 1916 


PRESS OF 
BRAUNWORTH & CO. 
BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS 
BROOKLYN, N. Y. 


©CI.A445427 

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MV Gr 3S" 


Lovingly Dedicated 
To My Two Brothers 
To Whom I Told My First Stories 















































































































































































































































































































































































CONTENTS 

What the Stars Saw "page 

What the Stars Saw .1 

The Three Wise Men.7 

Jesus in the Temple.12 

A Happy Home.18 

Jesus the Healer 

The Great Physician .25 

A Sad Home Made Glad. 30 

The Sick Grandmother., . . . . 35 

How the Blind Man’s Wish Came True. 38 

Jesus and the Children 

The Little Boy Who Helped. 45 

A Picnic of Long Ago. 53 

The Wonderful Story Teller. 59 

When the Children Sang. 65 

Last Lays 

The Last Supper.73 

The First Glad Easter.78 

Breakfast by the Sea.82 

The Ascension. 85 


























WHAT THE STARS SAW 









WHAT THE STARS SAW 


O NCE upon a time, long, long ago, the stars 
came out in the sky just as they will do to¬ 
night. Looking down upon the earth to see what 
was happening, they peeped into many homes and 
saw fathers and mothers and children having 
happy times together. But in some of the homes 
mothers and children were a bit lonely. Their 
fathers were shepherds and were far away on the 
hills keeping watch over their flocks by night. 
They sat together on the ground and while they 
watched their sheep they talked. Those same 
twinkling stars that watch us by night looked down 
upon them and listened while they talked. 

Sometimes they talked about their homes and 
their little children. Sometimes they talked softly 
about their cruel king and of how poor the shep- 


i 


2 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


herds were, and wished that God would send to 
them the king He had promised long ago. 

One of the younger shepherds said: 

“Perhaps God has forgotten.” 

But the oldest of all the shepherds said: 

“No, no, God never forgets. In His own good 
time He will send us our King. Who knows, He 
might come to-morrow.” 

To-morrow would have been Christmas for us, 
but the shepherds had never heard of Christmas. 
Indeed there had never been a Christmas in all 
the world; no Santa Claus, no stockings hung up, 
no Christmas trees, no Christmas gifts, no Christ¬ 
mas love, no Christmas bells to ring out on the 
winter air, no Christmas songs for little children to 
sing, no Christmas joy. For the blessed Christ 
child, the dear Christmas baby, the little Lord 
Jesus, brought all these things, and He had not yet 
come to earth. 

While the shepherds watched their sheep and 
talked together and the stars looked down upon 
them, suddenly there shone round about them a 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


3 


great and wonderful light that was brighter than 
starlight, brighter than moonlight, brighter even 
than the light of the sun in the day time. For Heav¬ 
en’s great gate had opened and the light from the 
throne of God shone out. Through the gate down 
to where the startled shepherds sat came a great 
shining angel. 

The frightened shepherds hid their faces on the 
ground, but when the angel spoke they were no 
longer afraid for his face was sweet and tender as 
he said: 

“Fear not, for I bring you glad tidings of great 
joy which shall be to all people.” 

Eager for his glad tidings, they raised their 
heads to listen and he told them wonderful news. 
It was that over in Bethlehem, across the field 
where they saw many lights twinkling and glim¬ 
mering through the darkness, a little child was 
born who was to be their King and Saviour, come 
to take away their sorrow and their trouble. It 
was the Christ child born that night at Bethlehem. 
The good news made joy even in Heaven. 


4 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


The wonderful light grew brighter, Heaven’s 
great gate opened wider and many shining angels 
came out to sing the first glad Christmas song: 

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, 
good-will to men.” 

As the simple shepherds there on the hillside 
listened, their hearts were filled with joy, the first 
Christmas joy the world had ever known. 

The music grew softer and softer for the angels 
had turned back toward Heaven. The strange 
light grew dimmer and dimmer and at last the 
shepherds were alone in the darkness. Heaven’s 
gate had closed. Quite still the shepherds stood 
waiting, hoping that the light and the angels would 
come to them again. When it did not come, the 
old, old shepherd said: 

“Let us go to find Him, the King the angels told 
us about. Just over there in Bethlehem they 
said we shall find Him, born in a manger, 
wrapped in swaddling clothes.” 

Though he was old, he walked fast that night, 
and the other shepherds followed. Quickly they 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 5 

came to Bethlehem and they found the baby Jesus, 
not in a palace where kings were wont to be born, 
not even in a comfortable home in a warm, soft 
bed like yours and mine, but in a manger where 
cattle are fed. It was a lowly place, but, oh, it was 
full of joy, Christmas joy, for in it was the first 
Christmas gift, a Christmas gift for all the world, 
for the shepherds who came to find Him, and for 
you, and for me. 

martin luther’s cradle hymn 

Away in a manger, no crib for His bed, 

The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head. 
The stars in the sky looked down where He lay, 
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. 

The cattle are lowing, the poor baby wakes, 

But little Lord Jesus no crying He makes. 

I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky, 
And stay by my cradle to watch lullaby. 

(A pleasant occupation for the children on Sun¬ 
day afternoon would be making pictures of the 
stories in this book. Provide some squares of soft 
gray cardboard nine by twelve inches in size; a 


6 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


box of colored crayons, one or two pairs of chil¬ 
dren’s scissors, a box of Dennison’s gummed silver 
stars of different sizes and the following list of 
pictures, which can be secured at any kindergarten 
store or by writing to Brown and Company, Bev¬ 
erly, Massachusetts. The price of the pictures is 

onp rent p^ipn i 

(Numbers 822, 1320, 92, 863, 1276, 1275, 597, 
393,199,823,220,169,334,230,814.) 


THE THREE WISE MEN 


~NG, long ago some of the stars came out very 



early one night and looked about them, those 


very stars which you and I see in the sky every 
night. They looked about them, and then began 
to whisper to one another. “Look,” they said, 
“there is a new star among us.” 

Low in the eastern sky God had hung a new 
light, bigger and brighter than any of the others. 

Another star said, “See, there are men down 
there on the earth looking at that very star. They 
are wise men from the East. I can tell by their long 
white robes.” 

Far out on the brown, sandy desert were three 
men, riding on huge white camels, looking at the 
new star and talking about it. In their homes they 
had been watching and waiting for that star a long 
time. When at last they saw it shining in the sky, 


7 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


they said to one another, “Let us go. It will lead us 
to the great new King of all the earth.” 

Now they had come to the end of the first day’s 
journey. They had found a well of sweet, cool 
water, and palrp trees growing about it. Here they 
ate their supper, and fed their faithful camels. 
Here they slept while the stars watched. Very 
early in the morning, before it was quite light, 
they rose to see if the new star still shone in 
the East to lead them on. There it was, and when 
at the end of the day they stopped at another well 
of sweet, cool water far out upon the great brown 
desert, they looked eagerly for the first stars which 
came out after the golden sun had said “Good 
night,” and there in the eastern sky shone the 
brightest star of all, and it seemed to say, “I am 
waiting for you.- Come. Come.” 

Another night, another day, another night, and 
yet another day, on and on and on the camels’ long, 
strong legs carried them, until at last, with many 
other camels and many other travelers, they came 
to the gate of the beautiful old city of Jerusalem. 


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THE THREE WISE MEN 


9 


“Here,” they said, “perhaps we shall find Him 
whose star we have seen.” 

They rode up to the palace of King Herod and 
stopped. Each wise man made a queer little sound 
in his throat, and the camels understood. Very 
gently they doubled their long legs under them 
and knelt upon the ground, and the wise men 
stepped out of their strange-looking saddles, that 
were something like tiny houses, with curtains all 
about them. They went into the king’s palace and 
asked of King Herod: 

“Where is He that is born King of the Jews? 
We have seen His star in the East and are come to 
worship Him. We have come a long way. Can 
you tell us where to find Him?” 

But Herod said, “I have never heard of Him. I 
am the king here.” 

So they started again upon their journey, and lo, 
the star still shone and led them on. 

Not far outside the gates of the city of Jerusalem 
is the little town of Bethlehem, and as the wise men 
upon their camels came near to it, the star hung 


IO WHAT THE STARS SAW 

very low, and seemed to lead them right into the 
little village. 

“Shall we seek here?” said one. “It is such a 
poor little place. Who here would know anything 
about the great King of all the earth?” 

But the others said, “The star has led us here. 
Let us stop.” 

They rode into the little town of Bethlehem, 
watching the star as they rode. Lower and lower 
it came to guide them until at last it stopped over 
a stable. Here in a manger where cattle had been 
fed they found a beautiful baby. 

They were very, very wise men, and God Him¬ 
self had sent the star to guide them, and they knew 
that this little baby, born in a lowly manger, was 
Jesus, the great King of all the earth. 

They laid out the costly presents they had 
brought to Him, gold and frankincense and 
myrrh, and knelt before Him and worshiped Him. 



THE THREE WISE MEN 


11 


VERSE TO LEARN 

The wise men bring to the babe their gifts, 
Christmas gifts, Christmas gifts; 

His royal voice now in praise each lifts, 

On Christmas day in the morning. 

Our lives and our hearts at thy feet we lay, 

O spurn not the gift, Lord, we humbly pray. 
Accept us, accept us, as we come this Christ¬ 
mas day. 

Let us take our brown chalk, and with its flat 
side make the big, brown, sandy desert on this gray 
cardboard. Let us make little rings for the wells, 
where the wise men stopped and green marks 
about them for the palm trees. 

Here are three camels for us to cut out and paste 
in the picture. In the box is a picture of the wise 
men bringing their gifts to Jesus. Who can 
find it? 


JESUS IN THE TEMPLE 


O NE night, long, long ago, the sun had just 
gone down. Very early two or three stars 
came out and looked down upon the earth before 
it was quite dark. 

Gathered about a roadside well, they saw a great 
many people, men and women and little children 
and big brothers and sisters. Every one was busy. 
Some of the men were putting up tents, and some 
were feeding the donkeys and camels, and the boys 
were having lots of fun helping. The mothers 
were getting supper ready, and the girls were car¬ 
rying water. It was to be out-of-doors like a picnic 
supper. 

All these people were going on a long journey. 
Early in the morning they had started on this jour¬ 
ney and all day the boys had been having a glori¬ 
ously good time. Sometimes they ran races, until 
they were far ahead of all the donkeys on which 


12 


JESUS IN THE TEMPLE 13 

the mothers and very little children rode. Then 
they would throw themselves down by the road¬ 
side in the grass, all out of breath. While they 
rested, they laughed and talked and teased one 
another as boys like to do. “Aren’t we having lots 
of fun?” they would say to one another, but you 
and I could not understand them, for they were lit¬ 
tle Hebrew children, and though I think the boys 
of that long ago time thought and played much as 
boys do now, and perhaps said much the same 
things, they said them in a very different language. 

These boys and all the people with them were 
going to Jerusalem. Some of the boys had never 
been there before. They were just twelve years 
old, and when a Hebrew boy was twelve, he went 
to Jerusalem, to the great Temple there, and was 
examined in all that he had learned at school. 

Day after day they traveled, and night after 
night they slept out under the stars. Every day 
they came up with other men and women and little 
children and big brothers and big sisters, all going 
to Jerusalem. 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


At last they came to the great gate and went 
through into the city. A wonderful time the 
boys had there, visiting places they had heard 
their fathers and mothers tell about, seeing sights 
they had never even dreamed of, walking around 
the king’s palace, and all going to the beautiful 
Temple, to take their examinations. 

One of the boys was Jesus. He had gone to 
school in the town of Nazareth, where He lived, 
and now He was twelve years old and must go to 
the Temple to be examined in all that He had 
learned at school. 

One morning all the visitors went streaming out 
of the great gate, going home. Joseph and Jesus’ 
mother and their relatives and friends and neigh¬ 
bors were all in the same company. At the end of 
the first day’s journey Mary said, “I wonder where 
Jesus is.” She went about among the other boys, 
Jesus’ cousins and friends, but He was not with 
them. “We thought He was with you,” they said, 
and Jesus’ mother had thought He was with them. 
Joseph and Mary began to be worried. They 



“Why did you not come with us?” 














JESUS IN THE TEMPLE 15 

asked every one in the company about Jesus, but 
no one remembered to have seen Him since they 
left Jerusalem. 

Joseph and Mary went back to the city and in¬ 
quired at the house where they had stayed, but 
Jesus was not there. They hunted for Him every¬ 
where, and at last they found Him—where do you 
suppose? In the Temple. There He was with the 
wise teachers who had examined Him, but they 
were not teaching Him. They were listening to 
the wise things He was telling them, and wonder¬ 
ing how Jesus, who was only twelve years old, 
knew so much about God and God’s Word. 

Mary, his mother, could not understand either. 
She said, “Son, why did you not come with us, 
when we started home? We have been anxious 
and worried about you, and have looked for you 
everywhere.” 

Jesus answered, “Wist ye not that I must be 
about my Father’s business,” and still His mother 
and the wise men in the Temple did not under¬ 
stand. But Mary knew that Jesus was her loving 


16 WHAT THE STARS SAW 

and obedient son; He left the wise teachers in the 
Temple and went home to Nazareth with her and 
Joseph, and day by day grew bigger and wiser, 
just as you do. He was getting ready for His 
Father’s business, which was to “save His people 
from their sins.” 

“If we but learn to serve Him 
While we are young and small, 

Great things will find us ready 
When we are grown up tall.” 

Let us take our brown chalk and draw the 
long road. Then we shall make little rings at three 
places along the road for the wells. Around the 
wells we shall make little green marks for the 
grass. Here at the end of the road we shall draw a 
big square for the wall about Jerusalem. Listen to 
what it says in the Bible about Jerusalem. Read 
Psalm 122. 

Now who can find a picture of Jesus in the 
Temple? 

Let us each make a little tent from brown paper. 

Secure from a kindergarten store, a package of 
four-inch paper squares of various colors. Select 
the light-brown ones. Fold them evenly across the 
middle, then fold both outside edges to this middle 


JESUS IN THE TEMPLE 


17 


line. Unfold, turn the paper and fold across the 
other way, and then fold the outside edges to the 
middle line. Unfold and the paper will now be 
creased in sixteen squares. Turn each of the cor¬ 
ners in to the depth of the first square. Cut along 
the middle line on two sides, the depth of the first 
square. Now fold the second square over the third 
square on two sides and paste. After it has dried, 
cut an opening in each end of the tent and fold 
back for a flap. 


A HAPPY HOME 


T HE sun streamed through the windows of 
the workshop. Inside, in the pleasant sun¬ 
light, a man and a boy worked and talked together. 
Their tools were crude and the finished work was 
simple, but it was fashioned with loving care. One 
day it was a neighbor’s chair or table they mended; 
another day they made plow handles. They made 
chests of sweet-smelling cedar and many other 
things the people of Nazareth needed. 

Once the boy had been little and loved to watch 
the shavings curl from the plane; shining yellow 
ones from oak and pine and red ones from the 
cedar. Or he played at building with the blocks 
of wood the man dropped upon the earthen floor. 
As he grew he learned to handle the simple tools 
and to put the bits of wood together. 

Sometimes his mother called to him to bring 


A HAPPY HOME 19 

pieces of the wood into the little white house near 
the workshop. Sometimes she sent him to the 
well for water to fill the two great water jars which 
stood, one at either side of the doorway. Some¬ 
times she asked him to mind the baby brothers 
and sisters that were growing up in the home. Al¬ 
ways he was gentle and happy, doing his simple 
tasks cheerfully and learning day by day to do 
them a little better than the day before. 

Sometimes he went to school. Down at the syna¬ 
gogue the teacher gathered the boys of the neigh¬ 
borhood together and taught them to write and to 
read and to know the laws of the Great Jehovah. 

Sometimes he went out from the little white 
house, past other white houses where his neigh¬ 
bors and playmates lived, through green rows of 
olive trees and through vineyards where the grapes 
hung purple and ripe. Of the many hills around 
the little city of Nazareth, where he lived, the 
highest was the one he loved the best to climb. 
Here he sat and looked away to other cities and 
higher mountains. One was always white with 


20 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


snow. Often he sat by the road that ran through 
Nazareth and watched long caravans of camels 
pass. It was the king’s highway and sometimes 
glittering troops of soldiers clattered by, some on 
foot and some riding spirited horses. 

Later the boy was big enough to stay all day in 
the shop and help the man with plane and saw 
and hammer, and as they worked they talked. The 
boy listened and from the man’s wisdom learned 
many things about the world in which they lived. 

Sometimes he sat at evening with his beautiful 
mother outside the door of the little home, and 
together they talked of what his work in the world 
must be. No one else understood as did the mother 
that this little white house was not really the boy’s 
home. 

She knew he had only come here to grow up in 
her care, that his real home was in Heaven with 
God, his Father, and that God had sent him to be 
a Big Brother in the world and to help make peo¬ 
ple happy and good. For the man who worked in 
the shop was Joseph, and the beautiful mother 




He watched long caravans of camels pass 




























































A HAPPY HOME 


21 


was Mary, and the happy boy in the happy home 
was Jesus. 

Here is a pattern for a camel. (This is easily 
found in the advertising columns of newspapers 
or magazines.) Let us each cut out a camel and 
then we shall paste them all in a row on a big sheet 
of cardboard, making a caravan like those Jesus 
saw. 

Show some pictures of the home in Nazareth. 
Brown’s Nos. 863, 816, 890, 872. 





JESUS THE HEALER 











THE GREAT PHYSICIAN 


I N the long ago time, in a far-away country, 
there came into the home of Jairus, a ruler of 
the synagogue, a wee baby girl. She came on a 
feast day, the day when all the people remembered 
how, once upon a time, the beautiful Queen Esther 
had saved their country from ruin. 

“Because she came on this feast day,” said Jai¬ 
rus, the ruler of the synagogue, “we shall name 
our dear little baby girl Esther.” 

Little Esther was a sweet, good baby, and her 
father and mother loved her dearly and called her 
the sunshine of their home. They loved to watch 
her grow a little bigger and a little sweeter each 
day. 

“Soon,” they said, “our dear little baby girl will 
have a tooth.” 

And sure enough, one day the mother ran in to 
tell the neighbors that little Esther had a tooth, 


2S 


26 WHAT THE STARS SAW 

and when it was time for the father to come home, 
she ran to meet him, with the baby in her arms, 
and said: 

“Look, look, baby has a tooth.” 

“Soon,” they said, “our dear little baby girl will 
walk.” 

And sure enough, one day little Esther let go of 
father’s hand, and toddled across into mother’s 
outstretched arms. 

“Soon,” they said, “our dear little baby girl will 
talk.” 

And sure enough, she began to say “father” and 
“mother” and many other words, but we could not 
have understood her baby prattle, because in that 
long ago time, and in that far-away country, the 
language was very different from ours. 

“Soon,” they said, “our little girl will begin to 
study.” 

And sure enough, when she was a little older, 
her mother began to teach her to read, and taught 
her the laws of the great Jehovah which all the 
little Jewish children learned. 



Her mother began to teach her to read 











































THE GREAT PHYSICIAN 


2 7 

“Soon,” they said, “our dear little girl will be 
old enough to help.” 

But when little Esther was twelve years old she 
fell ill. Day by day she grew worse, and no one of 
all who tried could make her well. 

“But surely, surely, some one can help,” said the 
poor mother, and the father said, too, “There must 
be some one somewhere who can make our little 
girl well.” 

Then he thought of Jesus, the wonderful healer. 
Could He help? He would go to Him and see. 
He found Jesus on the street, with a great crowd of 
people about Him. Jairus, the ruler of the syna¬ 
gogue, made his way through the crowd and fell 
on his knees in front of Jesus. 

“Oh, Master,” he said, “my dear little daughter 
is at the point of death. If you will but come and 
speak to her I believe it will make her well.” 

The Master put His hand on Jairus’ shoulder, 
and said, with much of gentleness and pity in His 
voice, “I will go.” 

People thronged about Him, and many stopped 


28 VVHAli ’I'HJK S1AKS SAW 

Him to beg for help. It seemed to Jairus they 
would never reach his home. When they were 
almost there, a servant came running to meet him. 

“Why trouble the Master now?” the servant 
said to Jairus. “The little girl is dead.” 

Jesus only put His arm about Jairus’ shoulders 
a little more closely and said: 

“Only believe, my friend. It will be all right. 
Come with me,” and they went right on to Jairus’ 
home. 

There the people were excited and crying, and 
making a great noise. Jesus told them all to go 
out of the house. Then He took the father and 
mother of little Esther and went into the room 
where she lay, white and still and cold. 

With eyes full of sadness, that turned to wonder 
and to joy, they watched the Master as He went 
near and took in His tender grasp the little white, 
cold hand. 

“Get up, little girl,” He said softly, as if she were 
asleep, and He would waken her. And from the 
deep sleep of death she wakened at the sound of 


THE GREAT PHYSICIAN 


29 


His wondrous voice, and came back to the life and 
love that awaited her. 

And everywhere throughout the land people 
heard of the little girl who came back from the 
land of death, back to love and happiness in her 
father’s home, at the call of Jesus, the great physi¬ 
cian. 

Would you like to know what kind of bed little 
Esther had? Here is a picture of her home and 
the kind of room she lay in and the mat which was 
spread upon the floor for her to sleep on at night 
and when she was sick. 

Let us learn these verses about Jesus, the great 
physician: 

The great physician now is here, 

The sympathizing Jesus. 

He speaks the drooping heart to cheer, 

O, hear the voice of Jesus. 

Sweetest note in seraph song, 

Sweetest word on mortal tongue, 

Sweetest carol ever sung, 

Jesus, blessed Jesus. 


A SAD HOME MADE GLAD 

B Y the lake of Galilee in a beautiful house 
there lived a rich man and his wife and little 
boy. Because they lived near the lake where many 
fishing boats went sailing by each day, the little 
boy played at making boats and sailing them. 

The rich man loved his little boy very dearly 
and often sat and watched him play with his little 
friends. He thought what a fine big boy he would 
soon be and sometimes he thought of what a splen¬ 
did man he would be when he grew up. 

But one day the little boy didn’t go out to play. 
He said he was too tired and stayed in the house 
with his mother all day. 

“To-morrow,” the father said, “he will go out 
and play with his little friends.” But when to¬ 
morrow came, the little boy said again that he was 
tired and did not want to play. 

“Let him rest to-day,” the father said. “To-mor¬ 
row he will go out and play with his little friends.” 


30 



A SAD HOME MADE GLAD 


3 1 


But when to-morrow came again, the little boy 
was even more tired. He was so tired he did not 
want to get up, and so his father said, “We shall 
send for a wise physician who will make our little 
boy feel rested.” When the wise physician came 
he said the little boy was very ill and must stay in 
bed. The next day he came again. He said the 
little boy was not any better. This made the rich 
man and his wife very sad. They sent for another 
wise physician and he, too, said the little boy was 
very ill, and perhaps would never be well again. 
It broke the father’s heart to think his little boy 
would never grow to be a fine big boy nor a splen¬ 
did man. The father and mother begged the wise 
physicians to do something, but they said, “No 
one can help.” 

The poor father forgot about his riches and his 
fine home by the lake. He could only think of his 
poor little son who was going to die. Sometimes 
he stayed in the room with the little boy and wept. 
Other times he went out and walked beside the lake 
and said over and over to himself: 


32 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


“What shall I do?” 

When he saw the fishing boats on the lake he 
said: 

“How can I bear to think that my little boy will 
never play again at making and sailing boats; how 
can I bear to think that he will never grow up?” 

Again and again he said: 

“Is there nothing that I can do?” 

At night he could not sleep. He kept thinking: 

“What can I do for my boy? Where can I find 
some one who will help?” 

One night as he lay awake thinking about all 
the physicians he had ever heard of, he remem¬ 
bered something about a young man who went 
about healing people and helping them. Some 
people said: 

“He is God’s son, sent to be our King. It is 
with the power of God, His Father, that He heals 
the sick and does other wonderful things.” 

Very early in the morning the father went out 
and began to ask where he might find this young 
man. Some one told him Jesus was in Cana. Cana 



“Will my little boy never play again at sailing boats?” 


























A SAD HOME MADE GLAD 


33 


was a little village a long way from the city on 
the lake where the rich man lived. It took almost 
a whole day to go to Cana, and it was nearly night 
when the father at last found Jesus. In the street 
he saw a great crowd. 

“Perhaps some one in this crowd,” he said, “can 
help me to find Jesus.” But when he came near he 
found that Jesus was there, and these people were 
following Him and listening to Him. The poor 
father hurried through the crowd and came close 
to Jesus. 

“My dear little son is about to die,” he said to 
Jesus. “Will you make him well?” 

Jesus heard him and answered at once, “Go 
home,” he said, “and you will find your son well.” 
The father thanked Him and went away. It was 
night and he must wait until morning to start 
home, but he was not anxious about his little boy 
now. He had looked into the face of Jesus, and 
knew that He could do just what He promised, 
and the father was sure he would find his little boy 
well. Sure enough, when he came nearly to his 


34 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


home the next day two servants came to meet him 
and told him his little son was well. 

“When did he begin to get well?” the rich man 
asked his servants. And when they answered, 
“Yesterday at the seventh hour,” the rich man 
said, “That was just the time I was talking to 
Jesus.” 

When he came nearer to his home there was his 
dear little boy running to meet him, and crying 
out: 

“Father, see I am well. I can play with my little 
friends to-day.” 

But before he let the little boy go out to play, the 
father gathered all the servants of his house to¬ 
gether and he and the little boy and the little boy’s 
mother and all his servants knelt down and 
thanked God for sending His son, Jesus, into the 
world to make their home so happy. 

Let us each make a paper boat. 

Here is a beautiful picture of the Lake of Gali¬ 
lee. It was on the shore of this lake that the rich 
man lived. 


THE SICK GRANDMOTHER 


I T was the Sabbath day and Peter had gone to 
church. The children were never allowed to 
be noisy and play rough games on the Sabbath, 
but to-day they did not want to play at all. The 
dear grandmother who was so kind to them all was 
very ill. 

Peter’s little boy climbed into his mother’s lap 
and whispered, “Will our dear grandmother die?” 

The mother could only hold him close and 
whisper back, “Little son, I hope not.” 

Sister heard, and slipping away to grandmoth¬ 
er’s door, peeped in. A kind neighbor sat with 
her there. The grandmother was moaning with 
a hot fever which was burning her life away. The 
little girl began to cry and she, too, ran to the 
comforting place in mother’s lap and there they 
all cried together. 

Jesus was at church where Peter went, and when 
the service was over Peter said to Him: 


35 


36 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


“Will you go home with me? I do not think 
there will be very much for dinner; you know my 
wife’s mother has a fever and nobody feels much 
like cooking or eating at our house, but we would 
like to have you with us.” i : 

Of course Jesus said He would go. When they 
came to the house He said: 

“Let me see the sick grandmother.” 

So they took Him to her room. The children 
clung to their mother’s skirts and watched Him. 
The kind neighbor got up from her place by the 
bed and Jesus sat down and spoke kindly to the 
sick grandmother. He touched her hand and the 
moaning stopped. He spoke again and the burn¬ 
ing flush of the fever in the grandmother’s face 
was gone. The hot, fluttering hands were sud¬ 
denly still and cool. 

She sat up and looked about her. When she 
saw the children hiding behind their mother she 
smiled. 

“I feel better,” she said, “ever so much better.” 
She looked about her wonderingly. “I feel quite 



The kind neighbor got up from her place by the bed 

































• '<»■&> • 
* 

- 






























THE SICK GRANDMOTHER 37 

well,” she said, “as if I had never been sick at 
all.” 

Then she saw Jesus, and she understood, and 
Peter understood, and Peter’s wife understood, 
that by Hi« wonderful love and power He had 
driven the cruel fever away and made the dear 
grandmother quite well. How grateful they all 
were, and what a happy home Peter’s was that day! 

The grandmother rose at once and said, “I shall 
get the dinner; it shall be the very best dinner that 
I can cook.” 

It was because she wanted to show her love for 
Jesus, who had done so much for her. 

Let us take this picture of Jesus, the Healer, 
and put a frame upon it of this beautiful, soft 
brown cardboard. 

Directions for making frame. Cut cardboard 
nine inches square. Fold into sixteen squares as 
directed for making tent. Now fold each outside 
edge into the first line from the edge. Fold the 
corners under, slip the picture in and paste the 
corners down. 


HOW THE BLIND MAN’S WISH 
CAME TRUE 


the side of the road, in the heat and dust, sat 



a blind beggar. The road led through wide, 


beautiful gates, into Jericho. In Jericho were 
many fine streets and comfortable homes and 
beautiful gardens, but there were also some 
very poor homes on ugly back streets. In one of 
the poorest streets, and in one of the poorest homes 
in Jericho lived the blind man. His name was 
Bartimeus. 

Sometimes rich people who lived in the com¬ 
fortable homes with the beautiful gardens about 
them rode past in their fine chariots, or on their 
beautiful horses, or on tall stately camels, and see¬ 
ing blind Bartimeus begging by the roadside they 
threw him money. He could not see, but he could 
hear, and he knew each time just where the money 
dropped and groped about in the dust until he 



At the side of the road sat a blind beggar 




































































































' 




















































THE BLIND MAN’S WISH 


39 


found it. Some days there was plenty of money 
to buy food, and some days he went hungry. 

Bartimeus had always been blind. No ray of 
warm yellow sunlight had ever shone into his life. 
As a baby he had sometimes grown afraid of the 
darkness which always hung about him, and he 
hid his poor little blind face in his mother’s breast 
and cried pitifully. 

As a boy he could never run about and play with 
other boys. Always he sat alone and listened to 
their merry voices and wished that he might see. 

As a man he sat by the road in the heat and dust 
and gathered up the bits of money the rich people 
gave to him and wished that he might see their 
faces. He wished he might see their fine chariots, 
and their swift horses, and their tall, stately camels. 
He wished he might see their homes, and the beau¬ 
tiful gardens about them, and the wide, shady 
streets of Jericho. He wished and wished and 
wished that he might see, and one day, in oh, such 
a wonderful \yay, his wish came true. 

As he sat by the roadside in the dust and heat, 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


40 

he heard the sound of many feet. He knew a great 
crowd was coming. “Who is it?” he called out to 
the first man who came by. 

“Jesus of Nazareth,” the man answered. 

Bartimeus had heard of Jesus of Nazareth. He 
had heard of His greatness, of His love and kind¬ 
ness. Some people said He was the promised Mes¬ 
siah, the King. Bartimeus had heard that Jesus of 
Nazareth could cure sick people whom no doctor 
could cure; and heal lame people, and even— 
think of it! that He could even make blind people 
see! 

As he remembered it, blind Bartimeus called 
out: 

“Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” 

Many people were near him now, and they said 
to him: 

“Hush, hold your peace,” but Bartimeus only 
cried out louder: 

“Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” 

Again the people passing tried to keep him 
quiet, but Jesus had heard him. 


THE BLIND MAN’S WISH 


4i 


“Who is that calling me?” He asked. “Bring 
him here.” Then the people who had tried to keep 
Bartimeus from crying out said to him: 

“Be of good comfort. Jesus calleth thee.” 

Blind Bartimeus sprang up, and threw away 
his coat, and his staff, and made his way through 
the crowd to where Jesus waited. 

“What do you want me to do for you, Bar¬ 
timeus?” It was the kindest voice the blind man 
had ever heard. 

“O Master,” he almost sobbed, “that I might 
receive my sight.” 

At once Jesus answered, “Go thy way. Thy 
faith has made thee whole,” and even as He said it 
blind Bartimeus was blind no longer. First he saw 
the light, and then he looked right into the loving 
face of Jesus. And so it was that Bartimeus’ wish 
came true. Was it any wonder that after that he 
followed Jesus everywhere and would not leave 
Him? 

Picture—Healing the blind man, No. 597. 










JESUS AND THE CHILDREN 





























































































































































































•f • • 


■ - 


















• - 












































































































































































































































' 


























THE LITTLE BOY WHO HELPED 


O NE day the Little Boy ran excitedly into the 
house and said, all out of breath, “Mother, 
mother, let’s go to Capernaum to-morrow. Please, 
mother, can’t we?” 

Lovingly the mother smiled, and quietly she 
said, “Now, wait a minute, son, till you get your 
breath, and then we’ll talk it over.” When the Lit¬ 
tle Boy had rested a bit, and mother was ready to 
listen, he told her that Jesus was at Capernaum, 
and that some of the neighbors were going there 
next day. 

“And, oh, mother,” he said, “let us go, too. I 
want to see Jesus again. Don’t you remember that 
time He was here, what splendid games He taught 
us boys, and what wonderful stories He told us? 
And, mother,” the Little Boy’s voice was almost a 
whisper now, “every time I looked at His good 
face, and into His loving eyes, I couldn’t help 


45 


46 WHAT THE STARS SAW 

wanting to be ever so good. And, mother, I just 
love Him so much, I wish I could do something 
for Him.” 

The mother said she couldn’t go next day, but 
that the Little Boy might go with the neighbors. 
Very early in the morning he was ready. Under 
his arm he carried a little lunch, for it was a long 
walk to Capernaum, and dinner-time would come 
long before they could get back. 

The morning sun gleamed and sparkled on the 
shining, dancing leaves, the birds sang a merry 
good morning to the Little Boy and his friends. 
They laughed and talked and ran and jumped and 
had a good time as only boys can do, but always, 
way down in the Little Boy’s heart, was the 
thought, “I am going to see Jesus, and I wish I 
might do something for Him to show Him that I 
love Him.” He didn’t tell this to the boys who 
were with him. Oh, no; he was afraid they would 
laugh at him. 

At last they came to Capernaum, and there they 
were greatly disappointed. They had expected to 


mk 



Very early in the morning he was ready 














THE LITTLE BOY WHO HELPED 47 

find a great crowd of people down near the lake 
listening to Jesus, but the people were not there, 
and Jesus was not there. When the Little Boy’s 
friends asked some of the people of Capernaum 
where Jesus had gone, they said, “He and His 
disciples got into Peter’s boat and rowed across 
the lake.” 

The Little Boy was afraid his friends would go 
back home without seeing Jesus, for they had no 
boat in which to row across the lake. But they 
said, “It is not far. Let us walk around the end 
of the lake and see if we can find Jesus and His 
disciples on the other side.” So they started around 
the north end and on the way they saw many peo¬ 
ple going to find Jesus. 

The Little Boy came upon a lame lad sitting by 
the side of the road resting and stopped to say 
“Hello” to him. 

“Where are you going?” the lame boy asked. 

“To find Jesus,” replied the Little Boy. “Have 
you heard anybody say where He is?” 

“Oh, yes,” the lame boy answered. “I know 


48 WHAT THE STARS SAW 

where He is. He is over across the lake. I hob¬ 
bled down here this morning just in time to miss 
Him. Somebody said maybe He could make my 
legs straight, but I don’t know as He could. Any¬ 
way, I missed Him.” 

“Oh, yes, He could,” the Little Boy said eagerly, 
“I think He could. I know Him and I know He 
has done wonderful things. You come along with 
us. I will help you walk. You can lean on me 
when you are real tired.” 

So the lame lad got up and limped along beside 
the Little Boy. It was a pretty long walk, but 
after a while they came around to the eastern shore 
of the lake and there they found Jesus. 

There was a great crowd of people about Him 
and He was teaching and preaching. All day He 
was busy and kind and loving, healing the sick and 
the lame and the blind and comforting those who 
were sad. 

The Little Boy and his lame friend were sepa¬ 
rated in the crowd, but before the day was over, 
the Little Boy heard some one calling: 


THE LITTLE BOY WHO HELPED 49 

“Look, look, see how I can run!” It was the 
lame lad and his legs were quite straight and 
strong. “I am glad you brought me,” he said. “I 
would not have come if it had not been for you, and 
now see what He has done for me.” 

It was nearly evening when there came to the 
Little Boy the chance he had wanted all day, the 
chance to help Jesus. He heard the disciples say 
to the Master: 

“Send these people away. It is nearly supper¬ 
time.” 

But the Master answered: 

“Let us give them something to eat here.” 

“Why, we have nothing for ourselves even,” said 
the disciples, “and there is no place here where we 
could buy bread for so many even if we had lots 
of money.” 

The Little Boy saw how tired Jesus looked and 
he thought of the little lunch mother had prepared 
for him in the morning. Half of it he had eaten 
at the noon-time. But there were still two small 
round loaves and five little dried fishes. He knew 


5° 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


what he wanted to do, but it took a good deal of 
courage to slip up close to Andrew and say, almost 
in a whisper: 

“Here is my lunch. I only ate part of it at noon. 
There isn’t much, but maybe it’s enough for Jesus, 
and I should like Him to have it, truly I should.” 

Andrew didn’t laugh at him. Neither did Jesus, 
when Andrew handed Him the little lunch and 
told Him about the Little Boy. Ah, no; Jesus 
looked about for the Little Boy, and nodded to 
him, and smiled, and the Little Boy was so pleased 
that he came near running away right then and 
there. 

“But, oh, I’m glad I didn’t,” he told his mother 
when he got home that night. “For, mother, I saw 
Jesus do the most wonderful thing. I heard Peter 
say, ‘There’s five thousand men here, besides the 
women and children.’ And, mother, Jesus fed all 
those people with my little lunch, just five loaves 
and two little fishes. 

“I heard Him tell the disciples to make the peo¬ 
ple all sit down on the grass, and then He took the 


THE LITTLE BOY WHO HELPED 51 

loaves and fishes, and held them in His hands, and 
thanked our Heavenly Father. He told the disci¬ 
ples to bring some baskets, and He began breaking 
up my little loaves and fishes, and soon you’d 
think, wouldn’t you, mother, they’d be all gone. 
But they were not! There was enough to fill 
Peter’s basket, and John’s, and James’, and An¬ 
drew’s, and all the rest, and'then Peter came back, 
and his was filled again, and then John’s again, 
and then James’, and all the others were filled 
again, and again, till every one of the people had 
enough, and there was more left than I had in the 
beginning. Wasn’t it wonderful, mother? How 
could He do it?” 

The mother put her arm about the Little Boy’s 
shoulder, and drew him close to her and said softly, 
“Dear, it must be because He is, as He says, the 
Son of the great Jehovah.” 

Let us draw a long sloping hillside, with the flat 
side of our green chalk, and make a great many 
dots with black, and red, and blue, and yellow, for 
the people, for the people in Palestine wore bright- 


s? 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


colored clothes. Near the foot of the hill, let us 
make thirteen marks for Jesus and His disciples 
and a very short mark for the Little Boy. 

“In the trees, the birds are singing 
In the mountains, in the glens, 

By the rivers and the brooks and by the sea. 
But there’s food for all the robins, 

And the tiny little wrens, 

And there’s bread in His hand for me.” 


A PICNIC OF LONG AGO 


I N Palestine the flowers bloomed and flung their 
heads gaily in the breeze. The birds sang mer¬ 
rily. The children laughed and sang as merrily as 
the birds. They were very happy because to-day 
they were going for a walk with their mothers. 

All morning they had been busy getting ready 
to go. The bigger boys and girls had helped their 
mothers to get their homes in order and the little 
children dressed. 

At last Miriam, looking out, said, “Mother, the 
others are all ready.” 

Miriam’s mother came to the door with the baby 
in her arms and looked out. There was the mother 
from across the road with her children, and the 
mother from next door with her children, and the 
mother who lived down the road a little way was 
waiting with her little boy. They were a merry 
party. The boys ran ahead and jumped, and 


S 3 


54 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


laughed, and shouted and did all the funny things 
boys love to do. 

“Don’t get your clothes dirty,” the mothers cau¬ 
tioned, and the boys tried to be careful, for were 
they not going to see Jesus? They wanted to look 
as nice and clean as they could. The girls gath¬ 
ered flowers by the way. They thought perhaps 
Jesus would like them and I am sure they were 
right, for Jesus loved the flowers as He loved the 
birds and the little children, and all other beautiful 
things which grow. 

At last they came to a quiet shady place beside 
the road. A great tree grew there, and under its 
branches was a deep well of cool, sweet water, with 
a wide stone wall around it. “Hert ” the mothers 
said, “we shall rest and eat our lum h and give the 
children a drink.” 

After the lunch the children played again. They 
did not go far away, for the mothers said, “Jesus 
will be going by here soon, and if you are not here 
you will miss seeing Him.” 

The older boys and girls sat down by the road 
























♦ 



























































































A PICNIC OF LONG AGO 


ss 


to wait for Him, and as they waited they talked. 
“I remember just how Jesus looked when I saw 
Him,” Miriam said. “My mother took me to Cana 
to my cousin’s wedding, and Jesus was there and 
He had the kindest face I ever saw, and He made 
every one there have a good time.” 

“And I remember Him, too,” little Mark said. 
“He goes to my uncle’s house lots of times, and 
when I was there, He took me out for a walk, and 
told me nice stories about the birds and trees and 
everything.” 

“My aunt knows Him,” Samuel said. “Once 
when she was sick, and every one thought she was 
going to die, Jesus made her well just in a minute.” 

Just then they heard some one coming. It was 
Jesus and His disciples. Jesus looked tired and sad. 
People had been unkind to Him. People whom 
He loved and wanted to help had turned away from 
Him and would not believe in Him. But when He 
saw the children waiting for Him, when He saw 
the mothers with the dear little babies in their arms, 
the sad look went away out of His face. His heart 


56 WHAT THE STARS SAW 

was glad, and His face was loving and smiling and 
kind and beautiful; 

The disciples came up first, and said to the 
mothers, “Take your children away. Jesus can’t 
be bothered with them. He is a great teacher, and 
preacher. He has a great work to do.” But Jesus 
said to the disciples, “Suffer the little children to 
come> unto me. Don’t send them away. I love 
them, every one. You go on to the village and I 
will rest here a while, and play with the children.” 

He sat down on the wall which was built about 
the well, and the mothers brought the children, 
and Jesus put His hands on them and blessed them. 
Even the tiniest ones were not afraid. They held 
out their dear little hands to Him, and He took 
them in His arms and talked to them, and all the 
others gathered close around. The girls brought 
the flowers they had gathered for Him, the boys 
gave Him a drink, and the mothers gave Him 
the lunch that was left. He told them all wonder¬ 
ful stories such as they had never heard before, and 
every one had the happiest kind of a time. All too 


A PICNIC OF LONG AGO 57 

quickly the beautiful afternoon was gone and the 
picnic was over, but through all their lives, till 
they were old, old men and women, those little 
children remembered the time they saw Jesus and 
played and talked with Him. 

Let us learn what the Bible says about Jesus 
blessing little children. “Suffer the little children 
to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such 
is the Kingdom of God.” Mark 10:14. 

With the flat side of our brown chalk we shall 
draw the road where the children and their moth¬ 
ers went for a walk. By the side of it we shall try 
to make a tree with our green chalk. With black 
we shall draw a ring for the well. 

SONG 

I think when I read that sweet story of old, 

When Jesus was here among men, 

How He called little children as lambs to His fold, 
I should like to have been with them then. 

I wish that His hands had been placed on my head, 
That His arms had been thrown around me, 

And that I might have seen His kind look when 
He said, 

“Let the little ones come unto me.” 


58 WHAT THE STARS SAW 

Yet still to His foot-stool in prayer I may go, 

And ask for a share of His love, 

And if I thus earnestly seek Him below, 

I shall see Him and hear Him above. 

But thousands and thousands who wonder and fall, 
Never heard of that heavenly home, 

I wish they could know there is room for them all, 
And that Jesus has asked them to come. 


THE WONDERFUL STORY TELLER 


O NE day Jesus was sitting upon the roof of 
Peter’s house. Peter’s children and some 
other children of the neighborhood were up there 
with Him and they were all happy together until 
some grown-up people came up and began to 
quarrel. Each one said to Jesus, “Don’t you think 
I can do the best work? Won’t you give me the 
best place when you are king?” 

Jesus listened for a moment. Then He drew Pe¬ 
ter’s little boy up close to Him and said: 

“Look at this little fellow, how happy and kind 
and innocent he is. See all these little children. 
They are not quarreling about which is best or who 
is least or who is greatest. Now, unless you learn 
to be like these children, I shall not think that any 
of you love me at all.” 

They were ashamed then, and sat down together 
to be friends, and as they all sat there on Peter’s 
59 


6o 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


cool, shady roof, Jesus told them stories. The one 
the children liked best was about a little lost sheep. 

The shepherd had one hundred sheep. Every 
morning as he let them out of the fold he counted 
them, and every evening as they went in he 
counted them again to see that all were there. 
One night he counted them, one, two, three, and 
on up to ten and then up to twenty, and on and 
on until he came to ninety-one, ninety-two, ninety- 
three, ninety-four, ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety- 
seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine—and that was all! 
One was gone! 

The shepherd went inside and looked them all 
over. He had a name for each one. The one that 
was not in the fold was a little white lamb named 
Fluff. Where could he be? The shepherd said, “I 
must go back and find him.” 

“But,” said the man who helped the shepherd, 
“it is beginning to get dark and it looks as if it 
would storm. Don’t go. You have ninety-nine 
sheep here. Don’t bother about that one little 
lamb!” 


THE WONDERFUL STORY TELLER 61 


But the shepherd thought of poor little Fluff, 
out in the dark alone, lost and frightened, and he 
said, “I must go and find him.” 

Now, that day Fluff had had a very happy time. 
He had romped and played in the bright sunshine 
and nibbled at the green tender grass, and drunk 
from the still, cool water. He thought how fine it 
would be if he never had to go back to the fold 
and be shut up there. 

When the afternoon shadows were begining to 
grow long and the still, sweet evening time had 
come, the shepherd called to his sheep. They knew 
his call, and ran to him, ready to follow him home. 
All but little Fluff. He said to himself, “I’ll go in 
a minute.” 

He wanted to eat just a little more of the tender 
grass, and stay out-of-doors just a little longer. 
Again the shepherd called, and started home, and 
Fluff saw all the other sheep follow him. 

“Let them go,” he thought. “I’ll go in a minute, 
I can catch up.” 

All at once everything about him seemed so still 


62 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


it frightened him, and made him feel quite lonely. 
He started on a run to catch the shepherd and the 
rest of the sheep. But they were nowhere in sight. 
He couldn’t hear them, either, and somehow he 
felt just a little bit uncertain which way to go. 
He ran one way a little while, then turned back 
and went in another direction, and finally knew 
that he was lost, and couldn’t tell at all how to get 
home. He began to cry, and to call, Baa— Baa— 
but, alas! the shepherd had gone too far to hear. 
It soon grew very dark, and Fluff was afraid. 
How he wished he had started when the shepherd 
called the first time! Oh, if he were only safe in the 
shelter of the fold with the other sheep, instead of 
out here on the bleak dark hills alone! Oh, if the 
good kind shepherd would only come! 

Darker and darker grew the night, and poor 
little Fluff stumbled on, scratching himself in the 
briers, slipping and falling and never seeming to 
come any closer home. 

Out in the dark stormy night the good shepherd 
was hunting him. He, too, stumbled and fell and 



In the dark and the storm, the shepherd found the little lamb 













THE WONDERFUL STORY TELLER 63 

was scratched by the briers and wet with the rain, 
but he loved poor naughty little Fluff, and on and 
on he went trying to find him. After a long time 
he thought he heard a little cry, “Baa— Baa.” 

“Fluff,” he called; “Oo-ee, oo-ee.” 

Then he listened again, and stumbled on. 
Pretty soon the faint cry came again, and again 
he called. 

“Baa, baa,” came the weak little voice of Fluff. 

“Oo-ee, oo-ee,” answered the shepherd. 

After a while, in the dark and the storm, the 
shepherd found the little frightened lamb, caught 
in the brambles, torn and bleeding and ashamed. 
The good kind shepherd gathered him up in his 
loving arms and carried him all the long, rough 
way home, and there, though he was tired and wet 
and cold, he made a soft warm bed for Fluff, 
rubbed his bruises and scratches with healing oil 
and made him comfortable and happy. Then he 
went to tell his neighbors the good news that he 
had found his lost sheep. 

And little Fluff, warm and comfortable, thought 


64 WHAT THE STARS SAW 

of the dear, good, kind shepherd who had gone 
over such a long, hard way to bring him safely 
home after he had been so naughty, and he made 
up his mind he would never again fail to come 
when the shepherd called, but would always fol¬ 
low close and do just what he was told. 


WHEN THE CHILDREN SANG 


T HEY could romp and play and get their 
faces and hands just as dirty as other boys, 
these little fellows who sang in the choir in the 
great Temple at Jerusalem, but when they put on 
their white robes and sang, their sweet rapt faces 
and clear childish voices made one think of angels 
singing round the great white throne in Heaven. 
Perhaps the Heavenly Father hushed the songs of 
the angels about Him that He might better listen 
to the children singing in the Temple. 

There came one day into the Temple one home¬ 
sick for the Heavenly home, one hungry for the 
sound of angels singing, for Heaven was His 
home. He was the son of God. He had left all, 
the love and gladness, the brightness and beauty of 
Heaven and come to earth to offer love and happi¬ 
ness to those who so sadly needed it. But they had 
turned away and had wounded His great loving 
6S 


66 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


heart. They had not wanted His help, and His 
life on earth was a sad and lonely one. 

Just yesterday, for a little while, some had gath¬ 
ered about Him, and called Him their king and 
sung His praises, but to-day they were afraid and 
turned away and left Him in His loneliness. He 
went out and looked over the great beautiful city, 
the city God had set there like a jewel in the hills. 
It was called the “City of our God.” But, oh, how 
cruelly people of that city had rejected God’s Son. 
He wanted to love them, but they would not have 
His love. He longed to help them and make them 
good and happy, but they refused His help. 

He held out His arms to the great, beautiful 
city as a mother holds out her arms of love to her 
children that she may clasp them to her bosom. 

“O Jerusalem,” He said, “how often would I 
have gathered you as a hen gathers her chickens 
beneath her wings, and ye would not, ye would 
not.” 

Down into the city He went and to the Temple, 
and there He found men buying and selling, not 


WHEN THE CHILDREN SANG 67 

for sacrifice, as the law said they might, but dis¬ 
honestly, and for selfish gain. He stood among 
them, and lifted His arm, the strong right arm of 
a man who lived much out-of-doors, who could 
easily row a boat across the sea of Galilee. But 
there was far more in the arm He stretched toward 
them, in the burning look He turned upon them, 
than the strength of a man. There was the divine 
power that made earth and sky and sea; that could 
calm a storm or make a bright day dark as night; 
that could heal disease and say even to death: 

“Stand back, give up thy prey.” 

What wonder that they who knew the law and 
that they disobeyed it, gathered their wares about 
them and slunk away, as He said, “My father’s 
house is a house of prayer, and ye have made of 
it a den of thieves.” There were frowns on their 
faces, muttered curses on their lips and hatred in 
their hearts. 

Once again the Son of God felt His great lone¬ 
liness and yearned for some little show of love 
from some one somewhere. 


68 


WHAT.THE STARS SAW 


From out of the Temple came the choir boys. 
For that day their singing was done. There in the 
court they saw Him standing alone. There came 
into the face of the one nearest Him the hurt look 
children have when they see their mother cry. 
Just as he would have tried to comfort his mother, 
this little fellow crept close to Jesus. He leaned 
against Him and looked up, smiling shyly, into 
His face. The others followed and stood about 
wondering. Then they, too, came close to Jesus, 
who loved the children and always understood 
them, whose face brightened when He saw them, 
and whose heart was light and merry when they 
were about Him. 

“Let us sing to Him,” said one, and high and 
clear their sweet young voices rose and rang 
through the Temple courts. “Hosanna, Hosan¬ 
na.” It was one of the songs they sang in the Tem¬ 
ple choir. “Blessed is he that cometh in the name 
of the Lord.” 

Higher and higher, more and more joyously 
they sang. The tired, sad look had gone out of 



All the children He had ever known loved Him 


















WHEN THE CHILDREN SANG 69 


Jesus’ face. His heart was glad within Him as He 
listened. They understood, these dear boys; they 
loved Him. All the children He had ever known 
loved Him, and as He thought of them He was no' 
longer lonely. 

Then came men from the Temple who would 
have hushed the song. “It is not time for you to 
sing,” they said to the boys. But Jesus waved them 
back. 

“Let them sing,” He said softly. “Let them 
sing.” 

And when He went out from the Temple court, 
the choir boys went with Him, singing, “Hosanna,. 
Hosanna, to our King.” 


Picture of children singing. 








LAST DAYS 











THE LAST SUPPER 


NE day two friends crossed together the 



brook Kidron, just outside of Jerusalem, 


walked up the hill, through the big gate in the 
wall and into the streets of the beautiful city. 

“Look,” said one of them, “there is a man with 
a pitcher. Do you think he is the man we are look¬ 
ing for?” 

The man carrying the pitcher came toward 
them, so they stopped, and when he was quite near 
they said, “Jesus, our Master, said we would find 
a man in the street in Jerusalem carrying a pitcher, 
and that he would let us go to his house and pre¬ 
pare a place for Jesus to eat the feast of the Pass- 
over.” 

The man with the pitcher smiled in a kind and 


friendly way and said, “My good friends, I am the 
73 


74 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


man you are looking for. I have a big room at the 
top of my house, and I am happy indeed to have 
Jesus come there with His disciples, and eat the 
feast of the Passover.” 

Now Jesus had no home at all on earth. He had 
left His home in Heaven to come down to earth 
to help the people here. But He was so kind that 
there was always some home open to Him, some 
place where He could go and where He had kind, 
loving friends to minister unto Him. Here was 
the man with the pitcher (we think his name was 
John Mark), and he had on the wide flat roof 
of his house a big beautiful room with many win¬ 
dows, clean and cool and inviting. The two 
friends went on to John Mark’s house and up the 
outside stairs to the big, clean, cool room on the 
roof. In it they found a table and benches and 
plenty of room for Jesus and His twelve disciples 
to sit down to the table together. They made 
everything ready for the feast, and when it was 
evening time, and the setting sun sent long warm 
rays of yellow light through the open windows, 







isssi 


. .. .**' • : x .. . J ,^ .. 1 


“Look,” said one of them, “there is a man with a pitcher” 











THE LAST SUPPER 75 

Jesus and the other disciples came and together 
they sat down and ate and talked. 

After a while Jesus told them something that 
made them feel very, very sad. It was that this was 
the very last time they would eat together. He was 
going away. His work in the world was done. 
He was going back to His Heavenly home. Then 
He told them they were not to be sad, but to be 
comforted and to think of the time when they, too, 
would come to the Heavenly home and be with 
Him there. 

“It is my home and My Father’s home, and there 
are many beautiful mansions there for those who 
love us, and I am going to begin right away to get 
one ready for each of you, and when you have fin¬ 
ished your work in the world, as I have finished 
mine now, you will come and we shall all be happy 
together there.” 

The disciples had never thought about that. To 
them dying meant something very, very sad and 
terrible, but Jesus helped them to see that it was 
not that way at all, that His dying and going away 


76 WHAT THE STARS SAW 

would be a very beautiful thing and that some day 
the same wonderful, beautiful thing would hap¬ 
pen to them. 

When it was dark, they sang a hymn together 
and were comforted. Then they went out from 
the big upper room, down the outside stairs, across 
the little babbling brook, up the hill again into a 
sweet old garden of olive trees where Jesus loved 
to rest and pray. 

The next day the enemies of Jesus put Him to 
death on the cross. The disciples were broken¬ 
hearted. Their dearest Friend, their Teacher and 
Guide was gone, but I think that often and often 
on that dark, sad day they thought of the sweet, 
quiet time they had together with Him in the up¬ 
per room and of Jesus’ comforting words. They 
wished it was time now to go to Him in that Heav¬ 
enly home He had told them about, but they re¬ 
membered that He had said they must finish their 
work first. 

Some one (Sidney Lanier) has written a beauti¬ 
ful song about the olive trees in the garden where 


THE LAST SUPPER 77 

Jesus loved to go and pray. Let us learn a few 
lines of it. 


“Into the woods the Master went 

Clear forspent, forspent 

And the olive trees were kind to Him 

And the little gray leaves had a mind to Him 

When into the woods He came.” 


THE FIRST GLAD EASTER 


I N the garden the soft silvery moonlight faded 
to gray. The flowers and grasses lay asleep. 
Soon the warm caressing rays of morning sunlight 
would waken them. In this quiet peaceful place 
among the roses there was a new tomb. It was a 
cave in the side of a hill, with a big, round, flat 
stone to roll before the door. The loving friends 
of Jesus had tenderly wrapped the body in soft 
white linen and laid it in this tomb. 

“He is dead,” they told one another, as with sad, 
broken hearts they went away home. Now, very 
early in the morning, when the moonlight was 
gone, and the sunlight had not yet come, while the 
flowers and grasses slept in the cold gray gloom, 
three women came with swift feet to the garden 
gate. These three had been good friends of Jesus. 
Through two long, sad nights they had stayed to- 
78 





In the garden, the soft silvery moonlight faded to gray 










THE FIRST GLAD EASTER 


79 


gether. They could not sleep, so they worked 
together, getting ready sweet spices and costly oils. 

“We shall take them to the tomb,” they said, 
“and put them on the head and hands and feet of 
our blessed Lord and Master. It is the last kind¬ 
ness we can show to Him we loved so dearly.” 

They had forgotten how often and often He had 
said to them that He would rise from the dead, or 
perhaps they remembered but did not understand. 

The great stone had been rolled before the door 
of the new tomb in the garden, but as the three 
friends came through the garden gate they saw the 
stone had been rolled away and the tomb was open. 
“Who could have done it?” they wondered. They 
came near to the open tomb in the garden sweet 
with the fragrance of dewy roses. Very close to¬ 
gether they kept, for they were afraid; they knew 
not of what. They crept closer and looked in, but 
the tomb was empty. The body of Jesus, their 
friend, was gone. Instead, a great white shining 
angel greeted them. 

“Fear not,” he said. “You seek Jesus? He is not 


8o 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


here, but is risen as He said. Go tell His disciples 
that Jesus is risen from the dead, and that He will 
meet them in Galilee.” 

Two of the women hurried away to tell the glad 
tidings to Jesus’ other friends, but Mary lingered 
in the garden, weeping. She could not go away 
until she knew what had happened to Him she 
loved so much. She went over and stood beside 
the tomb among the roses that hung their sleepy 
heads over the hard gray rocks. 

“Tell me where they have taken my Lord,” she 
said to one who stood there. Her eyes were so full 
of tears she could not see and she thought he was 
the gardener. 

“Mary,” He said, and at the loving tone she had 
heard often and often before, she looked up 
quickly, and saw that Jesus Himself stood there. 

All the gray gloom of the morning vanished. 
The morning sunshine gilded every nook and 
corner of the sweet old garden, and the flowers, 
awake now, stirred joyously in the breeze and they 
and the happy birds seemed to sing together that 


THE FIRST GLAD EASTER 81 

first glad Easter morning. “Christ is risen, Christ 
is risen.” 

Since then the children have taken up the song, 
and everywhere they sing on Easter day, the glad, 
glad message the angel gave to the three friends, 
“Christ is risen, Christ is risen.” 

Let us take our green crayons and, using them 
sidewise, rub them lightly round and round upon 
our cardboard to make the green of the sweet old 
garden. With our pink crayons let us make soft 
pink, blurry spots here and there for the roses. In 
the center, with our brown crayons let us make a 
square for the rocks into which the tomb was cut, 
and in the middle of it we shall draw the door. 

In our box is a beautiful picture of Mary seeing 
Jesus. Let us find it. 


BREAKFAST BY THE SEA 


“X ET’S go fishing,” said Peter to John and 

1 j James and Andrew and three of the other 
friends of Jesus. Once these men had been fish¬ 
ermen, but Jesus came and they loved Him and 
followed Him and gave up their fishing boats and 
nets. 

Cruel men had put Jesus to death on the cross. 
There had been a glad, glad Easter morning when 
Jesus rose from the dead, and Peter and John and 
James and Andrew and the other friends had seen 
Him alive and had talked with Him. 

But now they said, “We shall go back to our nets 
and our boats and our fishing.” 

All night they fished, but in the cold gray morn¬ 
ing they started to the shore with empty nets. They 
had caught nothing. Though they were tired and 
cold and hungry, they must wash out their nets and 
82 



All night they fished 
































































































































































-, 

* 
















































































































































































BREAKFAST BY THE SEA 83 

dry out their boats before they could go home and 
have their breakfasts. 

As they came near the shore they saw some one 
waiting there. “Have you caught anything?” He 
called out to them, and they did not know that it 
was Jesus. 

“No,” they answered. 

“Cast your net on the right side of the ship,” He 
called again, and they did as He said, and their 
net was filled full with fine big fish. 

“It is Jesus,” John whispered to Peter, and Peter 
was so glad he couldn’t wait for the boat to land, 
but jumped out into the water, which was not deep 
here, and waded to the shore. 

Jesus had a fire for them to warm themselves 
by and a breakfast of fish and bread all cooked for 
them. How good it tasted! How warm and pleas¬ 
ant it was here, and, oh, how sweet to be once more 
with Jesus, whom they loved! 

“Do you really love me, Peter?” Jesus asked. 

“Lord, thou knowest that I love thee,” Peter 
said quickly. 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


84 


“Then tell others about me, Peter, so they will 
love me, too. Help others, Peter, as I have taught 
you to do. Don’t go back to your fishing. Re¬ 
member, even though I am gone away, that I have 
something else for you to do. Feed my sheep.” 
Jesus meant by that, that Peter and his friends 
should tell about Jesus and His love to people 
everywhere. 

Peter promised. Many times it was a hard, hard 
promise to keep, but Peter went back to his fish¬ 
ing no more. All the-rest of his life he did the 
work Jesus had given him to do. 

Let us rub the side of our blue crayons across 
our cardboard to make a picture of the sea. On 
it we shall draw a boat of brown. On a brown 
shore we shall make some uneven lines of red for 
the fire Jesus built. 

Let us find in our box a picture of Jesus and 
Peter. 


THE ASCENSION 


I N the land where Jesus.lived there are many 
beautiful gardens and orchards where sweet 
fruits and wild flowers and beautiful trees grow 
and happy birds live, birds with gay feathers, red, 
blue, green and gold. 

To one of these gardens near Jerusalem Jesus 
loved to go when He lived on the earth. After He 
had been put to death and had risen again, He 
stayed with His friends on earth for forty days, 
and during that time He met with them in the 
places He had loved best. Once it was in the upper 
room at Jerusalem, once it was by the Sea of Gal¬ 
ilee and once on the Mount of Olives in the beau¬ 
tiful garden near Jerusalem. 

It was to be Jesus’ last day on the earth. 

A man came into the garden on the Mount of 
Olives and sat down to wait. 

85 


86 WHAT THE STARS SAW 

Soon another came and then another and an¬ 
other. All were waiting for some one. It was 
Jesus. He had told them to come to the garden 
and wait there for Him. Presently He came, too, 
as He had said He would. It seemed as if the 
flowers were more beautiful when He was there 
and as if the birds sang sweeter songs. Flowers 
and birds and men and women and little children 
loved Jesus because He was always kind and ten¬ 
der and true. 

Here in the garden He talked to the friends who 
had come to meet Him. “I am going away,” He 
told them. “You have been with me and loved me 
and worked for me. Now when I am gone I want 
you still to love me and work for me. I shall be in 
Heaven with God, my Father and your Father. 
But I can always see and know what you are do¬ 
ing, and I shall always be near to help you. When 
you are in trouble pray to me, and I shall hear 
and answer. Men and women and little children 
everywhere are my friends, and I shall always love 
them and some day they will all come and be with 



‘Go ye and tell all the people of all the world that I love them’ 













THE ASCENSION 87 

me in my Father’s house. Go ye and tell all the 
people of all the world that I love them.” 

Then He went away. It was as if angels came 
and lifted Him up, up, up above the nodding blos¬ 
soms, up above the old, gray, olive trees, with 
the little bright-colored birds singing in their 
branches, up through the clouds into Heaven. 

His friends stood gazing up into the clouds, 
hoping that He would come back. “Ye men of 
Galilee,” said a voice near them, “why stand ye 
here gazing?” Two angels, big and shining and 
white and beautiful, stood beside them. “Jesus has 
gone from you into Heaven,” they said. 

The friends went home then, and began at once 
to do the things Jesus had told them to do, and 
always, although they could not see Him, He was 
with them, loving them and helping them. 

Let us make, with our brown crayons, the wall 
about Jerusalem on one hill. Then a path down 
the hill and across a little brook. We shall make 
the brook with blue, just a thin wavering line, for 
it was only a little stream. Now a low hill on the 


WHAT THE STARS SAW 


other side and near the top the garden, green with 
many colored flowers. We can use all our colored 
crayons for this. 

Here is a picture of Jesus leaving His friends 
and going away into Heaven. 


THE END 



















































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